Starting with an IED attack, al-Shabaab has ambushed a convoy of Ethiopian troops near the town of Burhakaba, just north of the Somali capital of Mogadishu. Locals reported that reinforcements arrived during the fight and helped get Ethiopian casualties out of the area. To the extent locals were able to confirm casualties at all, they indicated that they were from the IED attack, not the gunbattle. Such attacks are uncommon in 2019, as attacks targeting the African Union’s forces in Somalia have been infrequent with the escalation of US involvement in the country. Most al-Shabaab efforts now are targeting the US, or Somali government forces.

Source: Ethiopian News January 22, 2019 04:30 UTC